it's 4:48 in the morning and i've been awake since some time around 2:30. i'm still jet-lagged since i came back from israel two days ago so, i suppose it's to be expected. when i woke up this morning i went on a walk throughout the neighborhood which was a good time to myself that i needed to be with God. i also read my bible for the first time in a few days, and oh was it refreshing.
i just want to say that i love the bible. the reason i love it is because it's the true word of God. and while archaeology supports the bible as an ancient text, and while linguistics identify the bible as authentic (both good things to note), my favorite reason that i believe the bible is true (and why i love it so much) is because it knows me and it works. what is taught in the bible is so unique i don't believe any human being would, or could have ever come up with it out of their own imagination. if you were to create a fake religion you would be like joseph smith, a man who wrote doctrine commanding that you be a polygamist in order to go to heaven, or you would be like muhammad and say that you have to kill all other people of all other religions not your own. taking the influence from christianity totally out of the picture, from what i seem to observe, false religions have doctrines that appeal to the desires of the men who make them up.
the bible is unique, it says that in order to save your life you must lose it, in order to live you must die, being a servant is better than being a master, love, forgive and be gracious. because when we were undeserving, God first showed us love, forgiveness and grace. obligated to nothing and to no one, God sacrificed himself for this undeserving, wretched and disgusting people because he loved them.
in romans chapter one paul talks about the state of humanity. i used to think that humans were progressively getting worse, but after reading about the condition of people in the 1st century, we've been at the bottom of depravity for a long long time. paul says at the end of chapter one, "they know well enough God's righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same." (romans 1:32) so in the first century not only did people continue to do what they knew was wrong, but they applauded others who did the same. (and whether you deny it or not, the human heart knows there is a standard to right and wrong). so that being said, if we really are that perverse, than where in the world does the bible come from? how can such a text come from us? how can a naturally rebellious people, inclined to everything not forgiving, not loving and not gracious, come up with a text that says, that those are exactly the things to be valued. the bible screams a foreign message and yet has a certain familiar appeal to our hearts in that it knows us completely. the bible knows me as a human being better than i know myself. i read things and come to such understanding of who i am more than i would have ever found looking inside myself. and the bible works. the bible says that in your relationships with one another, humility works and pride doesn't, and it's true. the bible says to live with grace and forgiveness towards one another, and that too works, because if you don't, life is extremely difficult. the bible knows humanity better than humanity knows humanity.
because the bible knows humanity better than we know ourselves, it can only attest to the fact that it was written by the one who made humans. i've heard similar analogies to one where, if you want to know the purpose and proper usage of a coffee maker, then you ask the guy who invented it, or you read the manual written by the guy who made it. if God made us, than the bible can only be his instruction about our purpose and proper usage, and that makes sense to me.
i just want to say that i love the bible. the reason i love it is because it's the true word of God. and while archaeology supports the bible as an ancient text, and while linguistics identify the bible as authentic (both good things to note), my favorite reason that i believe the bible is true (and why i love it so much) is because it knows me and it works. what is taught in the bible is so unique i don't believe any human being would, or could have ever come up with it out of their own imagination. if you were to create a fake religion you would be like joseph smith, a man who wrote doctrine commanding that you be a polygamist in order to go to heaven, or you would be like muhammad and say that you have to kill all other people of all other religions not your own. taking the influence from christianity totally out of the picture, from what i seem to observe, false religions have doctrines that appeal to the desires of the men who make them up.
the bible is unique, it says that in order to save your life you must lose it, in order to live you must die, being a servant is better than being a master, love, forgive and be gracious. because when we were undeserving, God first showed us love, forgiveness and grace. obligated to nothing and to no one, God sacrificed himself for this undeserving, wretched and disgusting people because he loved them.
in romans chapter one paul talks about the state of humanity. i used to think that humans were progressively getting worse, but after reading about the condition of people in the 1st century, we've been at the bottom of depravity for a long long time. paul says at the end of chapter one, "they know well enough God's righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same." (romans 1:32) so in the first century not only did people continue to do what they knew was wrong, but they applauded others who did the same. (and whether you deny it or not, the human heart knows there is a standard to right and wrong). so that being said, if we really are that perverse, than where in the world does the bible come from? how can such a text come from us? how can a naturally rebellious people, inclined to everything not forgiving, not loving and not gracious, come up with a text that says, that those are exactly the things to be valued. the bible screams a foreign message and yet has a certain familiar appeal to our hearts in that it knows us completely. the bible knows me as a human being better than i know myself. i read things and come to such understanding of who i am more than i would have ever found looking inside myself. and the bible works. the bible says that in your relationships with one another, humility works and pride doesn't, and it's true. the bible says to live with grace and forgiveness towards one another, and that too works, because if you don't, life is extremely difficult. the bible knows humanity better than humanity knows humanity.
because the bible knows humanity better than we know ourselves, it can only attest to the fact that it was written by the one who made humans. i've heard similar analogies to one where, if you want to know the purpose and proper usage of a coffee maker, then you ask the guy who invented it, or you read the manual written by the guy who made it. if God made us, than the bible can only be his instruction about our purpose and proper usage, and that makes sense to me.
well, there is a lot more to write about this, i am kind of just stopping writing, i'll write more later i think. anyway. i am going to get some food, i am really hungry.
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i just read this in mere christianity, makes me feel assured to know that really smart people like c.s. lewis have some similar ideas as what i am talking about in this post.
"reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. this is one of the reasons i believe christianity. it is a religion you could not have guessed. if it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, i should feel we were making it up. but in fact, it is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. it has just that queer twist about it that real things have." - c.s. lewis, mere christianity.
//
i just read this in mere christianity, makes me feel assured to know that really smart people like c.s. lewis have some similar ideas as what i am talking about in this post.
"reality, in fact, is usually something you could not have guessed. this is one of the reasons i believe christianity. it is a religion you could not have guessed. if it offered us just the kind of universe we had always expected, i should feel we were making it up. but in fact, it is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. it has just that queer twist about it that real things have." - c.s. lewis, mere christianity.
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